Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

As long as you're not getting anywhere near Mathews in Melbourne, I feel at ease

cheers, Stu

I don't go anywhere without the trusty blockplane either.

Not a bad idea about the marking there, Matthew.
I suppose stamping the end grain with the words 'reject' would
be a tad too much. he he


cheers, Stu

O.K. I've done a few tests and I'm sold on epoxy as a porefill.

I preferred to run it through its paces first to understand its merits
and limitations before I started on the real process, which I've done.

Thanks for the help on this one, all. Pics to follow when done.



cheers, Stu

I've done quite a few test pieces on Blackwood today and last night. One on a 60 grit older endgrain. Very dark results. (60 grit ???? pfft) one on fresh sanded endgrain to 240 grit = slight darkening and quicker soak up into grain another fresh sanded to 400 grit = slightly lighter colouring than a...

Thanks for your detailed replies Allen, Richard and Hesh. Much appreciated. :D Allen, I saw your tutorial on refinishing and that helped alot in understanding your processes. (I was a Panel Beater for 17 yrs so have had generous booth time experience too but swapped to an apprenticeship in Carpentry...

G'day all. For my next one to be refinished, I want to try other sorts or porefill/grainfill methods than a shellac coat , timber grainfill slurry then shellac coat before shooting pre-cat nitro. I want to make the jump to epoxy as the primary source of porefill. Most of you guys use it, and rave ab...

Thanks for your tips and replies fellas.
Having other people's experiences in their methods helps a great deal.

The Saw blade arrived from Stew-Mac today, along with a generous assortment of other hardware and the like.

I guess that's my cue to get cracking.

Thanks for the prompt advice, Kim. I'd thought about the one way cut and the drawbacks of pulling back through the initial fret slot cut, making it bigger. It's a valid point . I was initially planning on using bearing encased drawer runners for the sled. I reckon they'll be extremely stable with vi...

I'm using the stew-mac fretslot mitre-box at present with good results. Having said that, I'm always on the search for an easier way . Has anyone delved into the world of using a circular fret saw blade on a homemade sled setup? Got the saw blade on order and wondering if anyone's had dramas in set ...

Nice tip there, Allan.
Will keep it in mind.